Not All Games Are Innocent
by StarBlood666
Summary: OC, Ming. It's been 3 years since their little sister disappeared. They had given up any and all hope. Suddenly, Mikey finds an old video game. The others agree to play it with him, even though it seems pointless. However, the turtles are soon to learn that not all games are innocent.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Ming

The year - 2004. I was bored. As usual.

Being stuck in the sewers did wonders for slowly numbing the brain with boredom. I had to do something. Something other than ninja training.

Digging through some of our old stuff, I found a video game card that I hadn't seen before.

"Jumanji?" I read aloud.

I shrugged and put it into the old GameBoy. No harm in playing some old school game, was there?

I peered at the character names. Some were cheesy, like Mouse Finbar. Some were just stupid, like Smolder Bravestone.

"Let's see... Pilot, zoologist, adventurer, curvy genius? No thank you!" I read through them, stopping at Ruby Roundhouse.

"Killer of men... Sounds good!" I selected the avatar.

The screen showed a collection of animals, and the words "Welcome to Jumanji." I started humming "Welcome To The Jungle" by Guns n' Roses. It seemed like an appropriate time.

Everything seemed normal. Until it wasn't.

The GameBoy started sparking and beeping. My initial reaction to anything sparking when it shouldn't be was unplugging it, and then calling for Donnie.

But... When I unplugged it, neither the TV nor the game turned off.

I looked down at my hands, which had wispy ghost-like pieces moving toward the GameBoy. I realized my hands were slowly dissipating.

I screamed as the rest of me continued dissipating into the game.


	2. Chapter 2

**3 years later**

Mikey

It's been three years since Ming disappeared.

Ming. Our sister. My sister. My best friend.

I sighed, when, suddenly, I noticed an old GameBoy in the bottom of the box that I was rummaging in.

"Jumanji?" I read the card aloud. Weird. Never heard of Jumanji before. It sounded like some kind of old board game or something.

I shrugged. "Hey, guys! Look what I found!" I called.

"What?" Raph asked, as he, Leo and Don walked up.

I plugged the game in.

"Jumanji. Never heard of it." Leo spoke, reading the TV screen.

"Want to play?" I offered.

"Why not?" Donnie shrugged, grabbing a controller.

"Well... I could use something to get my mind off things." Leo allowed, grabbing two controllers. "Raph?" He held out one of the controllers to the hothead.

Raph shook his head. "Nah. It's stupid."

"Why not, Raph? Scared I'm going to beat you?" I taunted.

"No." Raph growled, seizing the controller from Leo.

I chose my avatar first. "Huh. Ruby Roundhouse. She sounds hot." I tried clicking the avatar name. It wouldn't work.

"Try somebody else." Leo suggested.

"Okay. Dr. Shelly Oberon. Curvy genius. She sounds even hotter." I grinned, choosing the avatar.

"Why do you want to be a girl?" Raph asked.

"Because none of you guys are going to choose the female avatars, so I choose the ones that are probably hot. What's wrong with a little eye candy when you're playing a video game?"

"Nothing." Donnie replied, selecting Dr. Smolder Bravestone. "Thanks for saving us from the fires of having to be the girl character."

"You're welcome." I shrugged.

Leo selected Seaplane McDonough, the pilot.

Raph groaned. "Wait, so now I'm the Mouse? Thanks, guys."

"You're welcome." We all smirked mischievously.

The screen showed a bunch of animals and the words "Welcome to Jumanji."

 _"Welcome to the Jungle, we got fun and games. We have everything you want, honey, we know the names. We are the people that could find whatever you may need. If you got the money honey, we got your disease, in the Jun-"_ I sang, when suddenly, the GameBoy started to spark and hiss, cutting me off.

"Donnie?" I turned to my brother, who was staring at my hands.

I looked down, and saw that I didn't have hands!

"Ah! What's happening? Don-" FWOOSH!

* * *

It all disappeared. Everything. The TV, the game, my room...

I screamed as I fell through leaves and branches, skidded a few feet, and finally stopped at the feet of some really tall, bald guy with a grey T-shirt and pants with lots of pockets. He was huge.

I scrambled to my feet and found myself having to look up at him, which was the first sign something was wrong. I'm about the height of your average male human, so the fact that this guy was at least 2 feet taller set me on edge.

"Who are you?" I demanded, and my hand leapt to my throat. "I don't sound like that. That's not my voice! What th-" I gasped, looking around at a large jungle.

"Who are you?" The huge man asked.

"I asked you first." I countered.

Suddenly, branches snapped, and two more people fell from the sky. A short African wearing a huge backpack and a vest with the name FINBAR written on it, and a guy about 19 or so with black hair and facial, wearing a suit that looked like a pilot's.

The 19-or-so-year-old gaped at me, and at the huge guy. He put a hand on his head, and then his eyebrows squinted.

"Wait... I... I have hair?" He ran his fingers through it, feeling the hair and the beard.

"Okay, I don't know what's going on, but somebody had better explain who they are, and they better do it now, before I start punching!" The short African growled. His voice was high-pitched, making the threat extremely comical. "And what the shell is this thing on my back?!" He added, trying to get a look at the huge backpack.

"Hang on... Raph?" The huge man asked.

"Yeah. Raphael. Who are you?" The short guy demanded.

"I... I'm Donnie." The huge man replied.

"Guys?" I asked.

"Leo, is that you?" Donnie asked. I shook my head.

"I'm over here." The black-haired kid raised a hand.

"I'm Mikey." I pointed to myself. I looked down. "We're people?"

The short African, Raph, started laughing. "Y-you mean to tell me... That you... Are _Mikey_?! You look actually smart. And Mike is anything but!"

I nodded. "Yeah. I-I'm Mikey. You're... Finbar." I pointed to the name on Raph's vest. "That means... We're in the game!" I gasped.

"Yep. That's Mikey." Raph rolled his eyes.

"No, wait. I think he's right. If you're Mouse Finbar, then Leo is Seaplane, I'm Dr. Bravestone, and Mikey... Is the curvy genius." Donnie trailed away.

"Well. If Mikey's the genius, then we're dead." Raph sighed.

"Hey!" I growled.

"Guys! We have to find a way to get back." Leo pushed between Raph and I before I had a chance to deck the puny little Mouse.

"Mikey... You have a tattoo..." Donnie noted, pointing at my forearm. "And... And so do I..." He looked down at his own forearm.

"Me too." Raph spoke.

"Hey, so do I. Three bars..." Leo added.

I looked down at my forearm. Sure enough, a black tattoo of three bars was there.

"Do you think that's our life count?" I suggested. Everybody gave me a confused look. "Our life count. Three lives." I explained. "We're in a video game!" I added, in defence to the judgemental glare that Raph was giving me.

"It might be..." Leo nodded.

Donnie looked around. "Okay, first we need to figure out where we are."

"We're in the game." I shrugged.

"I mean, where in the game we are!" Donnie growled. I moved back two or three steps. Hey, can you blame me? He was now two feet taller than me.

"Donnie's right. We need to establish our location, and-" Leo stopped, staring at Raph.

My eyes widened. A huge hippo was behind him.

Raph gestured with his hands. "And? And what?"

"Raph... Slowly move towards me." Donnie spoke quietly.

"Why?"

The hippo suddenly... Ate... Raph.

"RAPH!" We screamed, and took off running.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Quick note: Hey guys. So, some of you are asking about the whole GameBoy thing. I'm not much of a gamer, so I don't really know game consoles all that well. I kinda just meant that game console shown in the movie. Sorry! That one's my bad...**_

Leo

Leaves and branches whipped my face as we ran. I narrowly avoided running into Mikey, _twice_ , and finally, we tripped and fell down a mudslide.

Something in the sky dinged, and suddenly, the little black man fell, landing on a rock.

"Ah! Oww!" Raph groaned, in his extremely entertainingly high voice.

"You okay, bro?" I asked.

"I just got eaten by a giant hippopotamus. Do I _look_ okay?!" He snapped at me.

I raised both hands, when a jeep drove around the corner, beeping its horn.

"What the- Who are you?" Mikey demanded.

"Professor Sheldon Oberon. I must say it's a pleasure to meet you. Jumanji needs you." The guy in the driver seat grinned. "Get in now, chop chop!"

The jeep's doors swung open. We exchanged glances, but then quickly climbed in when we heard something behind us roar.

"What's going on?" I asked the guy, sitting beside Mikey.

"Seaplane McDonough. I must say it's a pleasure to meet you. Jumanji needs you." He replied.

"Okay... Weird..." Raph muttered.

"Dr. Bravestone. Jumanji needs-"

"Needs him, too. Skip the intros. Why are we here?" I cut the man off.

"It's all right there in the letter I sent you, Dr. Bravestone." The man replied.

"Letter?" Donnie raised an eyebrow. "I don't have a-" A piece of paper appeared in Donnie's hand.

"Woah... Magic letter..." I heard Mikey mutter.

"I suggest you read it out loud." The guy said.

"Okay..." He cleared his throat. "'Dear Dr. Bravestone..."

Suddenly, everything changed. It was like we were watching a movie, but we weren't really even there. A cutscene.

The guy, Nigel, was with a team in the jungle, cutting through trees with a machete.

He told the story of a bad guy called Van Pelt, who stole a precious green jewel that protected the world of Jumanji. Van Pelt became cursed, but also gained the ability to control every animal of the jungle. That part made me shiver. Then, Nigel stole the jewel from Van Pelt and took off with it. The cutscene ended as Van Pelt screamed, "Bring me the jewel! And slaughter any who try to stop you!"

"Right then, here you go. Good luck." Nigel handed Donnie a beautiful emerald the size of his head! "Here also is a map of Jumanji. I'm sure you'll want to start right away. The goal for you, I'll recite in verse, return the jewel and lift the curse. If you wish to leave the game, you must save Jumanji, and call out its name."

The doors of the jeep sprung open. We were parked on a fairly grassy hill.

"You can't just bring us to the statue?" Raph grumbled.

"The goal for you, I'll recite in verse, return the jewel and lift the curse..."

We got out. No point staying if he was just going to repeat himself.

"Remember, save Jumanji, and call out its name!" Nigel called, as he drove away.

"Well."

"Okay..." I could see wheels turning in Mikey's head. "We have to have a list of skills and weaknesses. There's gotta be a way to know..." Mikey started patting his body, until he hit the right side of his chest, and a large board appeared.

"Holy!" Raph gasped.

Mikey started reading it out loud. "Okay, strengths: cartography, archaeology and paleontology. Weaknesses... Are you serious? Endurance?!"

That was definitely different from the Mikey I knew. He was constantly hyper, plus he pronounced archaeology and cartography wrong.

"Okay, I know what archaeology is, and thanks to Ming, we all know what paleontology is, so what's the last thing?" Raph asked.

"It's map-reading." Donnie explained. He tapped his right chest as well, and the same sort of thing appeared. "Ho! K! Uh... Strengths... strength, speed, climbing, boomerang, fearless, smouldering intensity?" Donnie rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Hey cool! I don't have any weaknesses!"

"Lucky." Mikey mumbled, as Raph snorted. Raph had a point. Donnie was slightly weaker and slower than the rest of us, and not that fearless.

Raph brought up his strengths and weaknesses. "Are you kidding me with this damn game?!" He snarled.

I nearly died laughing. Big, tough, slightly dense Raphael's strengths were zoology and weapons valet, meaning he knew a lot about animals, and held weapons for Donnie, who was clearly the main hero. That explained the large backpack. His weaknesses, however, were strength, speed, and cake.

"Shut up, Leo!" Raph yelled. Mikey and Donnie snickered. "Your turn! I bet you aren't so great!"

I copied the others. Oh God...

My strengths were making margaritas and piloting airborne vehicles. My weakness was mosquitoes. I shivered. I was afraid of heights. My brothers didn't know that. I was also a bit of a goody-two-shoes and never really drank alcohol. Well, at least I had an extra reason to hate mosquitoes now.

Raph groaned. "Why do _you_ always end up the lucky one?!" He demanded.

I didn't feel very lucky, but we couldn't worry about that now. We had to get our bearings...

* * *

 _ **I think I'm going to have to cut it off there for now until I can watch the movie again to make sure I'm at least following the basic points of the plotline. I'll see you guys in the next chapter. Byyyyyeee.**_


	4. Chapter 4

Donnie

I pulled out the map and unfolded it. A smaller piece of paper fell out that said, _Find the missing piece and return the jewel_. "What- There's nothing here!" I cried out. "It's a blank piece of paper!"

Mikey looked over my shoulder. "It's not blank..."

I glared at him. "What do you mean, it's not blank?!"

"I _mean_ , it's not blank. It's a map, just like he said." Mikey pointed at the paper, which had a large chunk out of it.

I was about to snap at him for being stupid, when I realized. Cartography was one of his character's skills!

"Of course! We can't see the map, but you can, Mikey! Oberon is a cartographer!" I exclaimed, handing Mikey the map.

Raph snorted. "Juuuust great. We're stuck in a video game and the only one that can see the map and guide us is this idiot!"

"Raph, shut up. Mikey, where are we?" Leo cut in, peering at the blank paper over Mikey's shoulder.

"Okay... Let's see... There are labels here..." Mikey peered at the map. "Down here, this looks like the jungle we were in, with a hippopotamus. It says 'From The Deep', so maybe that means it's a level... There are levels..." He was muttering partially to himself at this point. "So, we're here, next to... 'The Mighty Roar'."

"'The Mighty Roar'?! What does _that_ mean?" Raph demanded.

"It's the next level." Mikey determined.

We all looked at each other, slightly pale. What else could this game throw at us? Lions? Tigers? Whackos with huge guns on motorcycles?

As it turned out, that third option was right on the money, as literally, a group of whackos on motorcycles with huge guns came barreling towards us.

"RUN!" I yelled.

Apparently, nobody needed to be told twice, as we all started barreling for the trees. I got there first, followed by Leo. Raph and Mikey, however, both looked terrified. There were moving slowly, and Mikey was huffing and puffing.

Finally, they made it, and we all dispersed into the trees. Raph and I went one way, getting separated from our brothers.

We crouched in the undergrowth as a few guys stopped their motorcycles and talked.

"There's no way we can fight them..." I mumbled. Then, I got an idea. "Give me something."

"What? I'm not your sidekick!" Raph snarled.

"Yeah, well, reality check, according to this game, you are my weapons valet." I hissed. "So help me out!"

Still not completely satisfied, he pulled off the backpack and opened it, pulling out a boomerang. "Can your big brain use this, genius?"

I grinned. "I think I can." I steadied my arm, and aimed at the guys, throwing the boomerang. It arched beautifully, but missed the target. "Shell." I grabbed Raph and started running, despite his protests. His weakness was speed, and I couldn't let him lose another life. The two remaining bars on his forearm were taunting and slightly worrying.

Suddenly, a huge mass of something slammed into me from the side. I fell, tripping over Mikey and landing sprawled on the ground. We disentangled ourselves as Leo came running out of the trees, waving his hands and shouting "KEEP RUNNING!" Behind him were a solid row of maniacs on motorbikes. I was about to grab Raph and book it, when the boomerang whipped through the guys, killing all of them in one swipe and coming back to me. I grabbed it out of midair.

"Boomerang." I smirked at Raph, lazily tossing it to him. I liked this. I could pick on Raph all I wanted, and he couldn't do anything to me this time. He was the weak little nerd now.

"We gotta keep going, you guys." Leo told us. "There might be more."

Mikey coughed. "I... can't-" He puked up blood. I noticed blood staining his shirt.

"Uh-oh."

"Mikey!"

He disappeared in a swirl of flesh and blood. Then, the sky dinged and he landed on Raph, who gasped at the sudden weight. "Get off!"

Mikey got off Raph, then looked at his wrist. One bar faded away.

"Guys, we can't waste anymore lives." Leo spoke the obvious. "Mikey, where do we go now? Where's the next level?"

Mikey took the map out of his pocket, and walked to a cliff. At the bottom was a large lake.

"If we can jump down there and land safely, we should be able to make our way to the 'Bazaar'." He told us.

"Who's willing to be the sacrifice?" Raph asked me and Leo. "You two have three lives each."

i nodded, and leapt off the cliff into the water.


	5. Chapter 5

**Raph**

I didn't actually mean it!

Donnie had leapt, and we all ran to the edge of the cliff to see.

His head popped up out of the water, and he swam to the other side. I let out a quiet breath of relief.

"Okay, guys! One at a time! Leo, you first!" He called.

Mikey and I watched Leo as he took a couple steps back, squeezed his eyes shut, and ran to the cliff, leaping off. He, too, emerged and swam safely to Donnie.

I looked at Mikey. Okay, sure, it was all well and good for Donnie, who had no weaknesses, and Leo, who was a fit young adult, but Mikey was now fat, and I had a huge backpack. Not to mention all of what previously were my strengths, were now my weaknesses.

"Come on, guys!" Donnie called.

I suddenly felt myself be pushed.

"Mikey! You a-" **SPLOOSH**

I struggled to reach the surface, and swam to the edge, where two strong arms grabbed me and dragged me onto land. Sweet, sweet solid land.

Mikey jumped. I was half-hoping he wouldn't be able to get to us and drown. However, he made it. I sighed.

I guess. If we lost all of our lives...

"Okay, 'genius', where's this... Bazah?" I growled at my brother.

"Bazaar." Mikey corrected me. Should be... this way."

I groaned as we followed Mikey. In the distance, I could see a small village or marketplace. That must be where we were going.

As we got closer, I could see vendors and people calling about bread and fish and other foods. My stomach growled. The place smelled good, like fresh baked goods and cooking meat.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one that was hungry, as Leo spoke up. "Does anybody have any money that we can buy food with?"

Mikey shook his head, looking sad.

"Wait..." Donnie reached into a pocket, pulling out a bag. He opened it to reveal several small, round coins of a silvery metal. They had pictures on them of the jewel we had in my backpack. The other side said ONE in blocky letters. "I have... twenty coins. I think I got them when I killed the guys on motorbikes."

I grinned. "Great. Let's eat."

Donnie walked up to a vendor with breads of different assortment. He paid for four helpings of food, which was apparently worth 16 coins.

Mikey grabbed a loaf and bit into it. "Oh my god, you guys. This is the best bread I have ever tasted." He moaned in satisfaction. The others grabbed loaves of bread.

Leo frowned. "Just tastes like normal bread to me."

Donnie nodded in agreement.

I grabbed a chunk of Mikey's loaf. It didn't taste like bread. Actually, it was sweet, and melted slightly in my fingers. I scrunched up my eyebrows. It tasted really good, but... there was something... wrong.

Donnie and Leo, each noting my expression, took pieces of Mikey's loaf. Donnie gasped. "This isn't _bread_! It's pound cake!"

Everybody stared at me. I gulped and froze. "Is... Am I breaking out?" I asked them. Donnie shook his head. "Is my skin turning purple?" Leo shook his head. "Am I shaking? Is... Is anything changing or off?" Mikey shook his head.

I relaxed. "Okay. So... Maybe it just means I can't resist cake, that my weakness is-"

* * *

Suddenly, I was falling through the sky again. I have no idea how to describe what had happened, but... I think... I exploded?

I landed hard on a vendor's table, crashing through and breaking it.

"Real smooth." Leo smirked, as Donnie pulled me to my feet. I looked at my wrist. We were barely halfway through this game, and I had already lost two lives.

"Okay, guys, we can't take any more risks. There's no point wasting our lives." Donnie frowned.

Mikey suddenly saw something. "Guys... Guys, we have company." He pointed. I saw it. Big guys were pushing through the crowd. They were heading our way.

"Let's... Let's go _that_ way." I suggested. Normally, I wasn't afraid of busting a few heads, but not only was I now weak (my weakness was literally strength) but I had only one life. I did not want to lose that.

We tried going the other way, but more guys were there, too. Somebody grabbed my arm. I struggled, and gasped. "Get away from me!"

Donnie appeared, punching the guy in the face. He went flying back and hit a wall.

"Thanks, bro." I breathed. Donnie nodded.

A kid appeared suddenly. "Heroes! Quickly!"

We all shared looks. I pushed past Donnie and ran after the kid as he ran into the marketplace, hopefully getting lost within the NPCs. The others ducked after me.

The kid stopped just before a tent. "In here. If it is the missing piece you seek, lift the lid and take a peek. Be aware of what's inside, trust each other, coincide. Good luck heroes, I will lead them away from here." The kid left the tent.

We all stood around the basket.

"What are the chances there's a snake in there?" Leo asked.

"High." Donnie gasped. Mikey gulped.

"Okay... I... I'll lift the lid slowly, everybody stay back." I said bravely, grabbing the lid.

Donnie grabbed my arm. "Wait, Raph-"

Too late. I lifted the basket lid. The snake rose up and hissed.

"Black Mamba!" I screamed. Donnie grabbed the snake behind the head just before it struck at me. The snake snapped and writhed with reptilian rage.

Without thinking, I slowly reached up and grabbed one fang, snapping it forward. I did the same with the other fang. Donnie stared at me with wide eyes, but when I had finished defanging the viper, he placed it on the ground. It slithered away.

"Raph, did you just-" Leo gasped.

"I just defanged a snake." I grinned proudly. I had no idea how I knew how to do that, but somehow I did.

Mikey pulled out the paper. He unwrapped it to reveal a black totem-like elephant, and a note.

"When you see me, begin the climb." He read. "There... There's no map piece..."

"What?!" I gasped. "There has to be!"

Leo frowned. "That doesn't make any sense... The kid said the missing piece would be here!"

Donnie suddenly gasped. "We got company, guys!"

We all ran out of the tent to see the big guys that were sent to kill us and take the jewel. As we were prepared to fight them to the death (hopefully not literally) somebody ran past us and grabbed my backpack, tearing it off my back.

"Hey! Guys, somebody just took my bag!" I yelled.

"So?!" Donnie growled.

"We have slightly more pressing matters, Raph." Leo reminded.

"It had the jewel in it!"

"WHAT?!"

I started running in the direction the thief had gone, ready to tear him limb from limb. I saw him now, wearing a cloak over himsefl. He couldn't hide that huge backpack though.

He noticed us coming, and turned a corner. We followed, hot on his trail.

He stopped just before a wall. We had him cornered. He turned and I could see a smirk under his low dark hood. Throwing the backpack over his shoulders, he jumped onto a ledge, and scaled the wall in two more leaps.

We all gasped. Donnie leapt after him. Leo, Mikey and I... struggled to follow them.

When we were finally over the wall and on the roof, Donnie had the thief cornered before a long drop. We ran to them.

"We'll make this easy." I growled, wishing again that I was a huge turtle that was still intimidating. "Give us the backpack, and we'll let you go."

The thief just shook his head, and leapt off the roof. I cried out in frustration.

"Come on, we can't lose them now!" Leo leapt after the thief.

Donnie followed. Mikey groaned. I could feel that pain. We Climbed down, and realized we had lost the others.

"There!" Mikey pointed over the heads of merchants. I saw it. Donnie's head. We ran in that direction.

Finally, we caught up to the others, but I couldn't see the thief, or my backpack. "Where'd he go?"

Donnie groaned. "He threw the bag over that fence." He pointed. "But I think he took the jewel."

"No!" Mikey gasped. "That's our only way home!"

Leo nodded. "Donnie, you and Mikey try to find the thief. Raph, I'll get the backpack. Wait here and be a lookout."

I nodded. "Hurry, you two. We'll catch up."

The others broke off from us as Leo began to scale the fence. I hoped they would catch the thief and get the jewel back. I did not want to be in this stupid game forever.


	6. Chapter 6

**Donnie**

Mikey and I headed after the thief. I didn't want to be in this game forever, no matter how cool it was.

"There he is!" Mikey pointed, spying the cloaked figure. The thief saw us, too, and took off again.

I ran after him. I knew Mikey would have a hard time keeping up, but right now, I needed to get that jewel. I saw the thief go into an alley, as people left that alley. I turned the corner. Nobody was there. I looked around. What?

I then noticed the hem of a dark cloak poking out from the dumpster. I pulled it out, and realized. The old switch. Whoever had been under the cloak had left with the group of people that had left the alley. Damn.

In truth, we had nothing to narrow it down. I wasn't even a hundred percent sure it _was_ a guy that had stolen the jewel.

I thought I felt somebody watching me as I headed back to the others.

"I... I lost them in a crowd." I admitted, holding up the cloak.

Raph cursed, Leo sighed, and Mikey looked scared.

"Guys... What happens if... if we don't find that jewel?" He asked.

"We die trying." Raph replied.

For only having one life left, he was oddly brave. Then, that was Raph. He hid any tidbit of fear he had behind headstrong stubbornness and fearlessness. I wished I could be like that.

We tried to think of what to do next, when more bad guys appeared. Great. Not only had we lost the jewel and all hope of getting home, but we were still being hunted by... Van Pelt? Was that his name?

I growled, and punched a guy so hard he went flying. I grinned. The others were more defenceless, but I? I could fight. Like, I could really _fight_.

I took three guys down in one blow. I had a mile-wide grin on my face as I beat each guy that came at me. I was the strongest, for once. I had the upper hand over all of my brothers. I was-

"Donnie!" Leo cried, grabbing my arm.

I noticed Raph and Mikey running. I nodded and followed. Even though I was the hero of this game, I couldn't fight all these baddies by myself.

We found a grill into... the sewer system? Maybe. Either way, the underground was our element, our domain. We could lose them.

We all jumped down the hole and closed the top. We held our breath as the bad guys ran over us and down the alley. Somebody stopped just before the grill and picked something up. I held back a gasp as I realized Mikey had dropped the elephant totem.

I couldn't see clearly, but whoever it was wore boots and a long jacket. He growled out "Bravestone!", before following the other bad guys.

We followed down the tunnel underground. I sighed. "I think that was Van Pelt." I told the others.

"You don't think _he_ took the jewel, do you?" Mikey asked.

"No... He wouldn't still be hunting us if he had." Leo replied.

Suddenly, a female voice rang out. "Stop! Freeze where you are!"

We all froze. A blade suddenly appeared in front of me. Mikey gasped and Raph let out a cry of alarm. I swore silently. I should have known. This tunnel was lined with booby traps.

A cloaked figure appeared in front of us and pushed down a lever. The blade trap disappeared.

"You!" Raph cried. I felt my grip tighten on the cloak I held. It wasn't a guy that had taken the jewel.

She nodded. "You followed my trail. Somehow. You also almost led Van Pelt to my hideout!" She hissed.

There was a note in that voice somewhere that sounded familiar. I stepped forward. "We're sorry, but we need what you took from us." I told her.

She laughed harshly. " _You_ need it?! Why? Are you more villains, hoping to take the power of the Jaguar's Eye for yourself?" She demanded. "I have spent _months_ tracking this jewel done, maybe even longer. I will never give it up."

"Wait." I held out my hand. "Can you help us?"

" _Help_ you? Help you what?" She demanded. "I don't even know you."

"Listen, we will tell you what we know, and you can tell us what you know, okay?" Leo tried. "And nobody will attack anybody. Okay?"

She snorted. "Fine. But do exactly as I say, or you'll get killed by the traps."

We all shared a look, and nodded. "Deal." Mikey agreed.

"Follow me. Stay close together." She instructed.

We did, huddling together. Suddenly, she told us to stop.

"The alligator pit." She explained. "And my board is set up on the other side... Again..." She sighed. "I hate having to do this... it's so much easier to walk across..." She looked at us. "Stay."

We all nodded. Raph rolled his eyes.

The cloaked girl walked back the way we had come. We waited. Suddenly, she came running back. I cried out in alarm as she jumped, certain she was going to die and that the jewel would fall into the pit, unreachable.

What I didn't expect was for her to do a double flip, and then arch gracefully like a cat, landing safely on the other side with such ease that I could have sworn she was a naturally born ninja.

The hood of the cloak slid upon her landing, revealing red hair that cascaded down her shoulders. She gathered that hair in one hand and tucked it into her cloak, lifting the hood back over her head and face, before turning and grabbing a plank, setting it across the alligator pit.

"You want us... to walk across... that?" Leo raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm jumping." I announced.

"Suit yourself." The girl replied.

Raph pushed past us. "Hey now, the guy with the backpack goes first, everybody knows that." He moved across the plank, which creaked, but held.

Mikey gulped, and stepped back. "You first." He turned to me.

Everybody stood to the side. I took a running start, and jumped. I made it, but I didn't flip or land gracefully as she had. Instead, I landed on my feet, and then fell forward onto my face. The girl under the cloak snorted. Raph just laughed.

"I'm not risking the plank, either." Leo told us.

"Hang on, now." The girl growled. "He might have made the jump, but you won't."

Leo smirked. "You sure of that?"

"Yes."

He took a running start, and jumped. However, he landed just on the edge, and slipped. Leo screamed, and fell into the alligator pit. The girl shrugged. "I tried to warn him."

"Wait, where's he going to respawn?" Raph asked.

"Respawn?" The girl looked at him.

The sky dinged, and Leo appeared behind me. Mikey looked absolutely terrified.

"It's okay." The girl told him, sensing his fear. "The plank will hold you, I promise. Come on." She held her hand out to Mikey, who took a deep breath.

Slowly, he inched across the plank, and took the girl's hand, letting her help him onto the other side safely.

The girl led us a little further. "Now, everybody duck." She told us.

We ducked. Arrows shot just above our heads. The cloaked girl stood again, and led us to a room that held at least six different tunnels. "This one. The others all end in deadly traps."

She walked down the tunnel, and we followed her. There were three more rooms like that, with tunnels that branched off our path, and another trap. The girl guided us through it, and finally we were climbing upwards. We came out of an outhouse, and then she started climbing a tree. We followed her, Raph and Mikey still having problems.

At the top of the tree was a lavish, huge treehouse. There were candles on almost all of the ledges, and furniture made of wood.

"Wow..." I breathed.

She nodded. "Sit." She instructed. We all sat on wooden chairs and stools.

"You aren't NPCs, are you?" She asked us.

We shook our heads. "And you're not, either." I deduced.

She nodded slowly. "And as such, you are trying to return the jewel to the Jaguar, correct?"

We all nodded. "That's our way home." Leo nodded.

"Perfect..." She snickered. "That's my goal, too." She finally pulled off the cloak.


End file.
